DailyDirt: Making Manned Space Travel More Comfortable...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Astronauts don't have an easy job. Getting up to space is an inherently risky trip, and then once they're up there, they need to be re-supplied with just about everything to continue to survive. But space agencies are at least trying to make things more comfortable for them. Here are just a few examples of some spaceships and amenities that could make astronauts' lives a bit nicer.

NASA should open source the space shuttle...

Inflatable habitats

You know, if NASA needs ideas or help with inflatable habitats maybe they should be working with Bigelow Aerospace. They might be able to learn a thing or two from a private company that has two inflatable habitats that have been orbiting earth for half a decade.

Personally I'm very excited for their planned 2014-2015 launch of their next habitat that should be going up on a SpaceX rocket. This could really kick off a lot of awesome things with an actual commercial space station in orbit.

Once a symbol of cosmic power of our country, now converted into a heap of scrap metal. Famous orbiter "Buran" thrown in the industrial area on the outskirts of Moscow. Several years ago the unit was towed from the factory premises on the street. It now looks like the pride of Soviet space exploration?

A treatment to preserve bone mass would be a start, but you'd also need to deal with muscle atrophy before long-term exposure to low/zero gravity would be safe. (Regular exercise isn't enough, unfortunately.)